Monday, December 14, 2015

Last Friday and Saturday's games put the final wrap on the 2015 Arkansas high school
football
season. The state's three smallest school classifications crowned champions in
Little Rock. The weekend gave us three fantastic games as Nashville, Harding Academy, and McCrory took home hardware. We want to congratulate all the champions and
runner-ups in the six classifications on great seasons.

Like
us, the coaches are already starting to look to spring football and
summer 7-on-7. As we move into the "off-season," we will have our
traditional helmet salute to the state champions, team and individual
camp announcements, 7-on-7 tournament previews, and tournament results. We will continue to draw
data from high schools around the state of Arkansas and a few other
states processed using techniques advanced from those outlined in our
book, Saturday Morning Wake-Up Call. Here is an example of the type of information we can provide to coaching staffs. This post provides all the retail outlets for the book if your are looking for a gift for the coach in your life.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

We have arrived at the final week of the 2015 Arkansas high school football
season. The three smallest school classifications play their state
championship games this weekend in Little Rock. You will find the
championship game capsules and our picks below. Next week, we will have
the state final results and then eventually present our traditional
helmet tribute to all 6 state champions.

4A

Prairie Grove vs. Nashville

Saturday, December 12

6:30 pm

War Memorial Stadium (Little Rock)

The 4A contest features two conference champions in the Prairie Grove Tigers and the Nashville Scrappers. The Scrappers are familiar with deep runs in the playoffs
over the 15 years having won three straight titles from 2005-2007. Nashville ended Prairie Grove's playoff run last year and looks to end it again to finish a perfect 15-0. The Tigers have won 13 straight since an opening game loss to Farmington and have dominated during their playoff run. Prairie Grove is looking to win its first ever state title in football.

OUR PICK: Nashville over Prairie Grove in a 42-35 game.

3A

Rivercrest vs. Harding Academy

Saturday, December 12

12:00 pm

War Memorial Stadium (Little Rock)

The 3A title game also features two conference champion in the Harding Academy Wildcats and the Rivercrest Colts. The Wildcats only loss on the year was to 5A Vilonia in the second week. Harding Academy has been absolutely dominant since that loss. The Colts are riding high on close playoff wins including the take-down of the 3A favorite Smackover last week. Both teams have won state titles in the last five years so they expect to win. This should be a fantastic game at high noon on Saturday.

OUR PICK: Harding Academy over Rivercrest, 38-28.

2A

Rison vs. McCrory

Friday, December 11

7:00 pm

War Memorial Stadium (Little Rock)

Like the other championship games this weekend, the 2A championship features the conference champions in the Rison Wildcats and the McCrory Jaguars The Jaguars are looking cap off an undefeated season for their first ever title. McCrory's only close playoff game was a 9-point win over Mount Ida in the rain and cold a couple of weeks back. The Wildcats look to extend the 2A-8 state title streak that extends back to 2011 and includes conference mates Strong and Junction City. Rison is looking for its first state title since 2004.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

We have 3 new state champions to congratulate after this weekend's action. The Fayetteville Bulldogs avenged a regular season loss to Springdale Har-Ber to win the 7A state championship. This is the third time that Daryl Patton's Bulldogs have beaten the 7A West conference regular season champion to win the state championship. The Pine Bluff Zebras knocked off the Greenwood Bulldogs in a highly anticipated match-up of two 12-0 teams. This game was a bi-polar struggle in that the first half featured an offensive explosion while both defenses pitched shutouts in the second half. In 5A, the Pulaski Academy Bruins capped off a perfect season against the Little Rock McClellan Lions. The 5A game had a controversial touchdown in the last half minute of the game.

The state finals are now set for 2A, 3A, and 4A. We will publish our state championship previews for those games later in the week. The scores from the weekend are below. Our correct winners are in BLUE while the misses are in RED. We were 5 of 9 (55.6%) for the week. During the playoffs, we are 98 out of 121 (81.0%).

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

It is hard to believe that it is Championship Week in the 2015 Arkansas high school football
season for classes 5A, 6A, and 7A. The other three classifications are
playing semi-final games this week. The state championship game capsules
with date and game time are below. Below the game capsules, you will
find with our picks for winners of the class 2A-4A semi-final games in BOLD.
The semi-final games will all be played at 7:00 pm on Friday, December 4.

7A

Springdale Har-Ber vs. Fayetteville

Saturday, December 5

6:30 pm

War Memorial Stadium (Little Rock)

The Har-Ber Wildcats and Fayetteville Bulldogs will travel from Northwest Arkansas to Little Rock to play a rematch of the game that decided the 7A West title earlier this year. Har-Ber won the regular season match-up in a 47-43 thriller. Fayetteville is very familiar with the environs as they play in their 5th state championship game in the last 6 years. The Wildcats are looking for the first title since 2009. We look for another great game to match the regular season tilt.

OUR PICK: Har-Ber over Fayetteville in a 45-42 game.

As
a curiosity, why must these teams (separated by 10 miles) travel an
average of 150 miles to Little Rock to play a 6:30 pm Saturday kickoff?

6A

Greenwood vs. Pine Bluff

Saturday, December 5

12:00 pm

War Memorial Stadium (Little Rock)

The 6A game has all the makings of an instant classic in
War Memorial this weekend as the Greenwood Bulldogs and Pine Bluff Zebras have been pointing toward this game all season. Both teams have dominated competition during the regular season and continued that trend through the playoffs. Pine Bluff is looking to defend the 2014 state title while Greenwood is attempting to win its 7th title in Coach Rick Jones 12th season at the helm.

OUR PICK: Greenwood over Pine Bluff in a 52-45 game.

5A

Pulaski Academy vs. Little Rock McClellan

Friday, December4

7:00 pm

War Memorial Stadium (Little Rock)

The 5A state championship also features a regular season conference rematch as the Pulaski Academy Bruins take on the Little McClellan Lions. The Bruins won the earlier game 41-30 - their closest contest this season. The Lions are riding high as this is their deepest playoff run since the mid-1990's. Pulaski Academy looks to extend a 26 game winning streak and cap it off with back-to-back state titles.